Paul arrived home in the early hours of the morning and crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep, he was completely wiped out from his actual job and dealing with Stephanie's mood swings because it had been surprisingly hard work.

Waking up on Wednesday morning he rolled over to pull his girlfriend closer but as his hand hit the cold sheets he remembered that he was home alone. Sitting up in bed he sighed, he really hoped that she was more relaxed at home because he was concerned for her health if she didn't just calm down as the stress she was under couldn't be good for her. Rolling out of bed he went to shower and to go and spend some quality time with his parent's because last week hadn't been the quality time that he expected it to be.

A couple of hours later and as he pulled up outside his parent's house he looked at his phone that was resting on the seat beside him and he couldn't stop himself from sending a text:

I love you. Have a good day xxx

Sending the text to his girlfriend he got out of the car and headed to his parent's front door letting himself in, "I'm here."

Patricia came walking out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee in her hands as soon as she heard the key in the door. Smiling at her son she wished he looked happier than he did, "don't sound too enthusiastic to be here will you?"

Laughing at his Mom's comment he would have hugged her if she wasn't holding two cups of coffee, "well you know I am happy to be here, it is always nice to see my family."

"But?"

Grumbling he shook his head, "no buts Mom."

Shaking her head she wished she could believe him but she couldn't, "go and sit down in the lounge and you can tell us all that happened this week."

Not wanting to argue with his Mom he walked into the lounge and took a heavy seat on the couch, "hi Dad."

Paul Snr. smiled at his son, "good morning to you. Is your Mom nagging you already?"

Laughing he nodded his head, "I've barely been here and already she has started on me, make her stop."

Shaking his head he wished he had those powers, "I can't I'm afraid. Your best option is just to go along with it and do whatever it is that she wants you to do and then she will get off your back."

Patricia slammed her husband's coffee down on the table in front of him, "do you care to take that back?"

Gulping he quickly nodded his head, "sure, I take it all back."

Laughing at her husband she enjoyed it when she could intimidate him into backing down, "just as I thought. So tell me Paul, what exactly is going on with you? Last week you disappeared without so much as a goodbye and now you're back again looking like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Sighing he propped his feet up on the coffee table but quickly moved them again when his Mom slapped his feet with a newspaper, "I just have a lot on my mind in regards to Stephanie."

"Paul, if you're meant to be together then you will get back together but you can't spend the rest of your life being miserable pining for her if it doesn't ever happen."

"But it did happen Mom, we're back together. Stephanie went missing last week and didn't tell anybody where she was going or even if she was okay so I got a frantic phone call from the McMahon's asking me if I had heard from her or knew where she was so I went looking for her. I found Stephanie in a place that I don't want to tell you about so I don't put you in an awkward situation but we decided to get back together but we'd keep it quiet and not tell anybody that we are back together."

To both of his parent's that didn't sound like it was a terrible thing to do or a reason why he looked so stressed, "well that isn't exactly a stupid idea considering the way the boys in the locker room treat the two of you because of your relationship. Why do you look like you have so much on your mind though? Don't you like keeping it quiet?"

Sighing he played with his ponytail, "keeping it quiet is a good thing for me but I've got so much on my mind because the boys will not shut their mouths, all week we have been dealing with people asking questions about what is going on with us, if we're really split up and there are even some bets going on in the locker room about our situation. I can deal with all of this but Stephanie really isn't dealing with any of it well, she is being kind of rude to people and incredibly snappy. I absolutely understand some of why she is like she is because it has got to be incredibly hard for her to be dealing with the fallout with her Dad but I don't know where I stand with her, sometimes she wants me to be close to her and sometimes she acts like I am the worst person in the world and doesn't want to be near me."

Frowning Patricia didn't like to hear that as the Stephanie she knew was so warm, loving and so friendly all of the time and to hear that she was so different now broke her heart. Moving in her seat she turned to look at her son, "so why exactly are you here? Why aren't you with Stephanie trying to iron out the issues you have and trying to talk to her and see if you can get to the bottom of her behaviour and make things better for the both of you?"

Shrugging his shoulders he didn't have a really good answer to that, "umm I don't know, truthfully I don't. I thought we were going to be spending the week together at the place I found her but she had to go home and is working in the office all week and I don't know, I guess I just thought she'd like her space."

Paul Snr. shook his head, "even I know that when women act like they want space they just want you to reach out and be there for them. Why don't you just go down there and be with her and just show her how much you care about her and won't let her push you away."

"But what about you guys? I'm supposed to be spending time with you and I can't if I'm in Connecticut with her trying to sort things out so we're closer again."

Patricia looked at her husband before she said, "I don't know if I speak for your Dad aswell but for me I'd prefer you to be with her and be happy than be here and be utterly miserable. Go to her, it will be a lovely surprise."

Laughing he shook his head, "and you never know she might even be nice to me."

Throwing a pillow at her son she shook her head, "well if you're going to be like that then I hope she's really mean to you."

Getting up from his seat he went over and hugged his Mom, "thank you." Walking over to his Dad he hugged him too, "you're the best parents, I really appreciate your understanding."

Smiling Patricia was happy that her son was manning up and going to see Stephanie, "it's not really being understanding, it's just wanting what is best for my son and I know full well that Stephanie is it. Just try with her and don't take no for an answer."

Nodding his head he was ready to find himself a flight to Connecticut and to surprise his girlfriend.